Friday, April 7, 2017

Jelly Experiment

I bought 6 jars of grape jelly a while back. The good thing was, they were on sale. The bad thing was, the jelly came in 32 ounce jars. There is no way I can eat a quart of grape jelly before it starts growing mold. Jelly isn't supposed to be hairy.

So I decided this morning to try something with it. I opened one jar, dumped the contents into a sauce pan and heated the jelly over a low flame until it became liquid. Then I poured it into half pint jars and hot water bath canned them for 15 minutes.

I wasn't at all sure the jelly would jell up after being melted, but it was worth a try.

It worked. Now I have my sale jelly in small enough jars so that it will be used up before it goes bad.

17 comments:

I keep jelly in the refrigerator to keep it from getting hairy, yet over time those large jars become inedible. I just stick to the small jars since there is only me to eat it. I remember with kids around, jelly never molded! I am glad your experiment turned out well.

Thanks, Linda...The only reason I bought the big jars was that the price was ridiculously low. And grape jelly is the only kind I buy at the store. I make my own jam and jelly and can it in the small jars. So I am really happy I could re-can the grape in small jars. Win - win. :)

Very fun to hear about your experiment. Congrats that it worked! Have thought about re-canning the Costco sized salsa but have yet to try that. I'm looking forward to the post about the kielbasa. Isn't fun to keep trying new things? Keeps the mind active as well, imo.My re-org of the front hall closet was in full force this morning. My kitchen counters are now a disaster - that will be this afternoon's task. Funny you should mention my canner - one of my re-organization goals was to make the canner more accessible.And as for the rain - I don't mind rain and much prefer it to ice. It also keeps all those 'special' people out of the park when I'm walking my dog.Cheers, SJ

SJ...I'm glad the experiment worked, too! You are right. Having to figure out solutions to problems helps keep my mind from turning to mush.

There are a number of things I re-can. Mostly when the price of the ingredients is much more than the finished product. Sometimes the Farmer's Market prices are really good and other times, not so much. Then I go to Sam's Club or my regular grocery has a section with the #10 cans. I have re-canned ketchup, mustard, bread and butter pickles, cheddar and nacho cheese sauce. I may do some salsa this year if I can find room for it. :)

You have a pressure canner, right? I have one whole shelf full of just home canned chicken and turkey. I usually figure that 1 lb. of meat fits into a pint jar. I did the math on home canned versus buying those small cans of chicken. I can get frozen chicken breast on sale here for under $2 a pound sometimes. Buying the cans will run close to $6 a pound. That's why I can meats.

I don't mind rain either. I especially don't mind rain on Saturday nights. I live next door to a bar. The rain keeps the 'special' people there from whoopin' and hollerin' in the wee hours of the morning. :)

good morning.Yes, I have both a pressure canner and water bath canner. I'm very comfortable with the water bath canning. Still have yet to use the pressure canner. I did 'apprentice' with some friends who were canning salmon with their pressure canner. I was there through the entire process once and for the prep work through venting the canner another time. Unfortunately they moved away and no one else here cans. I just need to do it -- but today I'm back to cleaning out my shelves and reorganizing. Spring cleaning during all this rain. Cheers, SJ

Good afternoon, SJ...I know it can be daunting to use a pressure canner if it is something you have not done before. And there is the expense of buying the jars. But that being said, using mine has made it possible to fill the shelves with meat and vegetables - the foods you can't can in a water bath canner. Most of my supper tonite is food I have pressure canned - cubes of chicken breast that I cover in bbq sauce and bake for half an hour along with a jar of baby carrots heated up with butter and brown sugar for candied carrots. The soups I am pressure canning next week will give me lots of quick and easy meals.

It really isn't all that hard to do. Just follow the instructions to the letter. There are a few common sense things to remember like if the food you are canning is cold in the jar, have cold water in the canner to start with and gradually heat it so as to prevent jar breakage.

Wish I lived closer so I could help you. But you can always get in touch with me if you have questions. I have a hunch that once you get going on pressure canning, you are going to just love being able to make your pantry even deeper. :)

Today is one of those green fuzzy blanket/good murder mystery book kind of days. Sort of overdid things the last couple of days. Sigh.

Thanks for the encouragement. Funny enough - I have plenty of jars. At least at this point in time. I look for them at the thrift when I can get them for 30% off.Take good care of yourself. I had a big crash this week on Wed and Thursday. Paid the price for back to back medical appointments on Monday and Tuesday. So it goes. A green fuzzy blanket and a good book sound like a great way to spend the day. Cheers, SJ

SJ...The thrift stores here seem to think that canning jars are lined with gold. I can get them much cheaper at Fleet Farm or even my grocery store. Good thing, as I am going to have to buy 6 more cases of pints.

I was going to spend a quiet day today, but hams are on sale at the grocery, so Lori went this morning and bought a nice spiral ham for Easter and another 4 regular hams for me to can - about 40 lbs. worth. I am taking a break now from cutting the meat from the bones and cutting it to fit the jars. Tomorrow I will can the meat, boil the bones for broth and can that, too. Good thing I have a few green fuzzy blanket and good book days before my grocery order is delivered. I am really glad to have the ham to can as I was nearly out. But, oh, I get tired of having to rest after doing anything the least bit strenuous. Don't you?

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Mom of four and Grandma of six, who writes about family events both past and present as well as anything else that happens to come to mind, shares new photos as well as old and who enjoys life in general.